


black magic

by i_was_human



Category: Lost in Translation (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Angst, Flirting, M/M, No beta we die like mne, Soulmates, Trapeze, Witches, background juntae, how many tropes can i add without having a mental break: the fic, minsoo is kinda a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26486095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_was_human/pseuds/i_was_human
Summary: The first time Jaewon saw the boy on the trapeze, he thought he was incredible.The second and third and fourth times, his opinion hasn't changed.
Relationships: Ahn Jaewon | Wyld/Lee Minsoo, Kang Dongho | D.Min/Kim Daehyun
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	black magic

The first time Jaewon sees the trapeze artists, he's barely eight.

He watches the way they flip through the tent, watches the way the one with silver hair soars through the air like a fish in water, watches the way his partner, a stronger man with dark hair, catches him each and every time.

There were many acts that night - fire-breathers, strongmen, animal tamers - but the only one he clearly remembers are the acrobats.

The second time he sees the trapeze artists, he's seventeen.

He's seventeen and sitting in the grandstands as the lights dim, and his mouth goes dry as the most stunning figure he's ever seen wraps himself in silk.

It's the silver-haired man from his childhood, but he hasn't aged a day.

Jaewon's gaze lands on a dark spot on the side of his neck - not unlike the mark of a kiss - as the man tangles himself up in silk, fingers reaching for each inch like it's some kind of forbidden sin.

He treats the ropes and silk like Tantalus, Jaewon realizes - the thing most desired, but never achieved.

The other acrobats changed, somewhat - a blond boy now cuts through the air like it's water, flipping and leaping in a dizzying array, and his partner moves with him in perfect tandem - but even hours after the show, the image of the silver-haired man is still imprinted on his retinas.

It's a small town, this place, and a superstitious one at that. Rumors fly around - rumors that the animal tamer is a werewolf, rumors that the fire-breathers are witches, rumors that the acrobats are faeries - but Jaewon puts almost no stock in them.

"Almost" being the operative word, because even if _he_ doesn't believe in that, there are still many that do.

Beliefs are only given value with followers.

His shoes scuff against the dirt road as he heads for the one restaurant in town - a dingy thing with sticky floors and a perpetual gloom that no amount of light can clear - and his gaze lands on the distant sky, watching as the stormclouds creep over the horizon.

There's a storm coming in.

He pulls open the door, watching as the iron bell above stays still. It's meant to react to witches, but in Jaewon's opinion, it's nothing more than a piece of metal.

* * *

"So."

A musical voice floats through the air, and Jaewon nearly shrieks.

As it is, he wheels, gaze landing on the silver-haired man, and _oh_ -

He's out of his performance silks, instead in a low-cut tee and jeans slung low on his hips. Dark eyes peek out from jagged bangs, and upon catching Jaewon's stare, he bursts into laughter.

"It's alright," he grins, swinging his legs through the air. "You can stare."

He's balancing on Old Man Choi's fence, Jaewon almost says, and nobody balances on Old Man Choi's fence without losing a hand, but this man isn't just anybody, so he keeps his mouth shut.

"I'm Jaewon," he says, like the intellectual he is.

The silver-haired man laughs, leaning back on his hands. "I'm Lee Minsoo."

He tilts his head up a bit, the wind tugging at his hair, and Jaewon's gaze slides to the deep mark at the base of his neck - a love mark.

"What is that?"

Minsoo grins, leaning forwards to rest his elbows on his knees, and Jaewon blinks, thrown by the sudden change. "You wanna know a secret, Jaewon-ie?"

"Um," Jaewon eloquently replies, and Minsoo's grin widens.

"It's a Witch's Kiss."

"A Witch's Kiss?"

Minsoo laughs, bright and pealing, and Jaewon's heart flutters in his chest. "A Witch's Kiss, Jaewon-ie. Don't you think it's lovely?"

"Um."

Minsoo leans forwards, and Jaewon nearly moves to catch him, but the acrobat flips faster than Jaewon can see, hooking his knees over the fence and flipping upside-down.

"Oh," Jaewon simply replies, and Minsoo laughs once more. 

"You should come see the show tonight, Wonnie-yah. I'll do a special performance just for you."

* * *

Jaewon does, in fact, go to see the show.

His mother worries, because his mother always worries, but in the end, it's his money, so he can do as he pleases. 

And oh, Minsoo doesn't disappoint.

He soars through the air like he's a bird, silken clothes rippling in a non-existent wind. 

Jaewon's utterly besotted.

Halfway through his routine, Minsoo catches Jaewon's eye in the crowd, and he _winks_ \- quick and scandalous.

The girl in front of him nearly faints.

Jaewon may or may not want to do the same.

Around halfway through the strongman's routine, someone grabs his waist, and Jaewon nearly shrieks.

As it is, he makes a tiny sort of "eep" noise, and Minsoo laughs, leaning over to hook his chin over Jaewon's shoulder.

He's in the same clothes he wore earlier, Jaewon realizes, and that makes his heart flutter just a bit.

It's doing a lot of that, lately.

"Hey," Minsoo laughs, wrapping his arms around Jaewon's waist.

"Um. Hi?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come backstage and meet my friends?"

"Are you flirting with me?"

"Is it working?"

"Uh."

"Great! Let's go!"

As it turns out, Minsoo's friends are the other acrobats from the show, and Jaewon decides not to point out that he almost entirely forgot their routine because _Minsoo_ , and instead just tells them he loved it.

The younger one - Daehyun - bounces on the balls of his feet, lips curled into a bright grin, and the older one - Dongho - gives him a small smile. 

Jaewon likes them immediately.

"They're _inseparable_ ," Minsoo groans, draping himself dramatically over Jaewon as Dongho and Daehyun pack up some things. "Met eight years ago, and then Daehyun stole my partner and my job."

"Correction," Daehyun winks, pressing a kiss to Dongho's cheek, "I filled the open slot as a trapeze artist."

Minsoo mutters something that sounds suspiciously like "semantics" and grabs Jaewon's wrist, dragging him out of the trailer and into the night. It's the dark, muggy kind of night - the kind that sticks to your skin and feels more liquid than solid - and Jaewon doesn't put up a fight as Minsoo drags him through the knee-high grass, grip never loosening on Jaewon's wrist.

"Minsoo-hyung, what-"

"Will you wait?" Minsoo asks, and Jaewon stares at him, stunned.

"What?"

"Will you wait for me, Jaewon-ah?"

Jaewon stares at him, and nods - slow, hesitant, but laced with determination all the same.

"...yeah. Yeah, I'll wait."

Minsoo grins - crooked, hoping, and _achingly_ genuine - and he grasps Jaewon's hands, pulling him in close and pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

Thunder crackles in the distance as Minsoo pulls away, squeezing Jaewon's hands once more before taking a step back. 

"I'll find you," he whispers, voice laced with a silent promise. "I promise."

From there, Jaewon can only watch, helpless, as the silver-haired man sprints away, a shining beacon amidst the darkness, and he almost wonders if he really _will_ see him again, or if he's just nothing special.

* * *

On his eighteenth birthday, Jaewon sets fire to his house with his entire family inside.

He can't wait for Minsoo then.

* * *

Against all logic, he finds a place to call home.

It's a charmed magic shop - non-witches can't see it - and as such, the boy working the front desk is understandably terrified when Jaewon walks in through the front door.

After some extensive prodding, the owner of the shop - "Nari," she tells him, sandy-blond hair brushing her hips and dark eyes sparkling with mischief - conscripts him into working there, and he gets to meet the rest of the team, however much he may not want to.

Taehyuk - the boy working when he came in - is a shapeshifter, a fact he chooses to demonstrate by turning into a cat nine out of ten hours of the day. Jun, his soulmate (and that's apparently a common witch thing - soulmates) is an art wizard, who can bring his drawings to life and make them real.

He says that's the reason for his tattoos. Taehyuk just thinks he likes them.

Somehow, Jaewon gets sucked into their hodge-podge family, and after seven years, he's still there.

Still with them.

(he misses minsoo like a missing limb.)

* * *

"Jae _won_!"

Jaewon raises his head, blinking at his boss from the counter. "Yeah?"

Nari emerges from the back room, and Jaewon nearly shrieks at the amount of potion detritus in her hair and on her clothes. "Noona, what happened-"

"Doesn't matter," Nari frowns, waving a hand in silent dismissal. "Anyways! I found out where your mystery silver man is!"

Jaewon laughs, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "Thanks, noona, but it's really not that important-"

"He has a show tonight!"

Jaewon freezes.

"And I got us all tickets," Nari grins, slamming a folder down on the table. "So you're going."

"Wha- _why_?"

"Because thirsting over him for seven years is both sad and tragic," Nari grins, resting her elbows on the table. "So get changed, shower, and get ready for a night of adventure!"

Jaewon regrets all his life choices up to this point.

He does, he swears.

Behind him, Taehyuk swats a few potions off the counter, all while giving Nari the biggest stink-eye he can muster.

Very expressive, that one.

* * *

Minsoo's exactly as stunning as Jaewon remembers.

He can't look anywhere else when the witch twists himself up in a rope, the world dark except for the one light beating down on him, and Jaewon thinks he could wait an eternity if only to see this sight once more.

Minsoo tips his head back, silver hair forming a cloud around his face, and he raises his head at exactly the right time to catch Jaewon's gaze in the crowd.

His hands slip off the silk, and the crowd gasps, only for Minsoo to coil the fabric around his ankle and turn the motion into a gracious sweep.

God, he's stunning.

He's as beautiful to a Jaewon of twenty-five as he was to the Jaewon of seventeen, and it's doing things to his heart.

Minsoo seeks him out once more - dark eyes boring into Jaewon's own for a single, eternal second - and he drops into a low swoop, tangling himself in silk again and again and again.

Jaewon can't take his eyes off him.

He finishes his routine coiled at the top and posed like a statue, and he holds it until the lights wink out.

He hasn't changed at all.

Minsoo hasn't changed a bit, and Jaewon's done nothing _but_ change. 

Jaewon needs some air.

"Where are you going?" Nari asks, and Jaewon shakes his head - a silent plea.

 _Don't ask now_.

She lets him slip out of the grandstand, and he leaves, unnoticed, just as Dongho and Daehyun start their routine.

* * *

"Why did you leave?"

It's another field of endless grass, another perfect replica of that day at seventeen, but nothing's the same at all.

Minsoo's standing there, clad in shining silk and barefoot, and Jaewon's turned away from him, hood pulled over fire-red hair and hands buried in his pocket.

"Dongho and Daehyun were going to do their act," Minsoo smiles, and it's crooked, aching, _pained_. "Daehyun was so excited to hear you were coming."

"You've changed," Jaewon states - needlessly.

It's lip service.

Nothing more.

"...it's been seven years."

He can hear it - the _"you left"_ that remains unsaid.

"Had to," Jaewon whispers, a fresh wave of old grief rearing its head. "Hard to stay when you kill your parents."

Minsoo sucks in a breath, and Jaewon blinks once-twice-thrice, trying to clear tears from his eyes. "It doesn't matter."

"Jae..."

"You were gorgeous," Jaewon states - needless, once again. "I just- I couldn't take my eyes off you."

"Thanks."

There's another round of potent, weighted silence.

"Do you want to-"

"Can we-"

They speak at the same time, and Minsoo laughs, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "We're in town for two more weeks, so I was wondering... do you want to get coffee?"

"Yes!" Jaewon exclaims, before promptly realizing what he said. "I mean- if you want to."

"I want to," Minsoo grins, and Jaewon flushes up to the tips of his ears. "I'll pick you up tomorrow. Wait for me?"

And like he has (and will, every single time) Jaewon says yes.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS FIC. SAT IN MY IDEA FOLDER. FOR **SO LONG**.
> 
> IT'S DONE
> 
> HALLELUJAH
> 
> fic title from sharax's black magic
> 
> [twit](https://twitter.com/i_was_human_) | [lit fic discord!](https://discord.gg/CNunB74)


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